MEMBER: Hyunah Chung

Q: What was your favorite childhood meal?It was our family tradition to make kal-gook-soo together on cold rainy days. we made it assembly line style – where my grandma would knead the dough, my sisters and i would then put the dough through the pasta maker (i guess not really kal-gook-soo since no knives were involved) , and finally my mom would put it together for the finished meal. on some of the days, my mom would also make kimchee boo-chim to go along with the kal-gook-soo. i love that combo to this day! but more than the meal itself, it’s more fun stories my grandma used to tell us and the air that filled the kitchen while cooking that makes it more memorable.

Q: Which temptation do you try the hardest to resist and why?Food. I think i spend about 20% of my waking hours thinking about food. i don’t usually eat breakfast, but i think about what i’m going to have for lunch all morning, then as soon as i eat lunch, start planning for dinner. some people eat to live, but i definitely live to eat.

Q: What are the redeeming qualities of the person you most dislike?Honesty and openness. i can’t stand hidden meanings and calculated moves that require too much deciphering, so even if i may not agree with or like the way a person acts or speaks, it is nice to know where they are actually coming from. might still not like them at the end of the day, but at least i can try to understand them.

Q: If you could master one instrument, which would it be?The acoustic guitar. took a stab at it in college, but i gave up when i got to the bar chords as i cursed my short stubby fingers. i still have the guitar though, so i might try to pick it up again one day.

Q: How would you like to spend your elder years?Hopefully, in good health, surrounded by family and friends and enjoying my leisure time with them.

Q: What's the best way to spend a rainy weekend?It might not sound that fun to most people, but my favorite thing to do on a rainy day is to do major house cleaning, wash the sheets, and get in bed with the fresh sheets and take an afternoon nap.

Q: Which of your personality traits would you most like to change and why?I give up very easily, on things, people, etc. i figured out over the years that the behavior stems from my fear of failure, and nothing that stems out of fear (except of God) is a good thing, so i’m trying to work on it. we’ll see how easily i give up on that endeavor.

Q: What do you miss about childhood?I think just about everything. the novelty of each experience life hands to you, having no responsibilities of real consequence, being able to demand things of people just because you are a child and you don’t know any better. but i think the thing i miss most is the feeling that there were limitless possibilities before me. when i was a kid, i felt like i could do and be anything if i wanted to be. i still try to cling to that mindset. i may have a more realistic perspective, but how can i look forward to tomorrow if i didn't believe in new and different possibilities?

Q: What would you most like to ask God?Why He chose me. but i’m a little scared that He might change His mind while thinking of the answer.

Q: What would you most like to do for someone else if you had the money and time?Anything their hearts desired. (of course, so long as it’s not a sin. is excessive shopping a sin??)

Q: Is it more essential to develop beliefs or gain knowledge? Why?I don’t think one can have belief without knowledge, but knowledge for the sake of knowledge without it leading to a belief in something seems meaningless. so while this might sound like a copout answer, both are equally essential, in my belief.